Whatever happened to Leonardo DiCaprio playing Nolan Bushnell in the Atari movie?

[Yo-Yo]

Remember in the Summer of 2008 when all the news was Leonardo DiCaprio bought the film rights to Nolan's life and was going to star in a Paramount Picture called "Atari"? Everybody was talking about it, and I haven't heard anything of it since. Maybe it's because of everything that happened with Steve Jobs from that point on that had everybody's attention focused elsewhere. Does anyone know what became of this project?

 

http://www.wired.com/2008/06/leo-dicaprio-at/

[RickR]

Probably the same fate as a million other movie ideas that never came to fruition for one reason or another. 

[The Scientist]

Things like this happen, Yo-Yo.

[greenween]

Good to see you back Scientist!

[The Scientist]

Thanks greenween! We're trying to take turns more often and rotate moderators with the new year. How is everyone?

[Yo-Yo]

Probably the same fate as a million other movie ideas that never came to fruition for one reason or another. 

 

That would be sad if it were true. I was hoping for the Atari story to be told on screen in a way that didn't mention ET every 20 seconds.

 

 

Things like this happen, Yo-Yo.

 

noooo 

[Justin]

@Yo-Yo, this article was published 3 days ago and includes an excerpt of Nolan discussing the status of the movie. You can read the full article here: http://www.afr.com/p/technology/atari_founder_nolan_bushnell_on_DyZanh74qP4wd9V58VHOhO

 

Most of the article is about Nolan's friendship with Steve Jobs and the time he spent at Atari. This is the excerpt pertaining to the movie:

 

 

Bushnell actually had a brief cameo role in the recent movie about Jobs' life, starring Ashton Kutcher, and says he is looking forward to the day the long-planned DiCaprio Atari movie is finally finished. It was first announced in 2008, and has still to emerge for public viewing.

 

"It has been in progress for so long that I almost forget that they are still working on it," Bushnell says.

 

"The movie industry runs slow. I don't know when it is out, but I am honoured to be played by DiCaprio, of course. We have helped them with the script and given them life rights, so it will have my imprint on it. The final script has taken some liberties that are not quite true, but that is OK: they have to make a movie after all."